It is something that has been happening for 115 years in Canada. And something many say they would love to be done with. Daylight Savings Time.

Tonight is the night residents of Manitoba will put their clocks back one hour and fall back to the time Manitoba is supposed to be on if you go by the world clocks.

In March, we spring forward one hour and the idea behind it in 1908 was that there was no need for the sun to come up at 3 or 4 in the morning in much of the country and the daylight would be better served to have in the evening instead. it was proposed there would be energy savings as people wouldn't need to turn their lights on as early at night and that farmers would benefit as well as the daylight hours would be closer to when most people would normally be awake.

Not all provinces participate in the activity. Saskatchewan residents leave their clocks alone all year long. And many Manitoba residents are ready to do the same thing. If that were to happen, the debate then becomes which time do you stay on? Our regular Central Standard Time, which is where we will be after the change tonight, or Daylight Saving Time, which is where we are right now. If we stayed where we were right now, then the summer months would be the same however in December, the sun wouldn't come up until almost 9:30 a.m. On the flip side, it would still set in the 5 p.m. hour. If we stayed where we are according to the world's time zones, winter months would be the same but in the summer, the sun would come up just after 4 a.m. and it would set in the 8 p.m. hour.

Portage Fire Chief Brad Bailey didn't offer up his opinion on the time change but he did say it can be used to do something else very important as well.

"We always tell people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change their clocks. That way this important device should always be in good working order should a fire break out"

Many of the clocks people use these days are connected to the internet and those "should" change on their own. If you happen to forget, however, the worst thing that will happen is that you will show up one hour early for wherever you have to be on Sunday. 

No matter where you stand, the Manitoba government has considered keeping the clocks the same all year long, however, it is not happening yet. Last year, the government at the time announced they would do away with seasonal time changes and move to permanent daylight time, but only if the United States led the way and the idea had public support. The idea was to stay in sync with trading partners south of the border. This could take a while as each province and state decides on its own where they want their clocks to be.

 

 

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